2013 and later

2014

2014, They can make a longer gen out of these consoles

Announce 2013 and release in 2014 :) hopefully 2012 won't be TOO big of a world ending scenario :P

i think it would be bad if they started next gen before end of 2013 because it would saturate the market and no one would buy them cause people will still be buying ps3s and i think the 3 companies should start together as it would benefit developers greatly

2013 or 2014 and keeping on selling PS3 as entry level for another 2-3 years.
In favour of a Q4 2013 launch there is the fact that finally 8th gen consoles will have enough power and features, particularly RAM that was too little for that purpose this gen, to be used as living room PC replacements, and in H1 2014 extended support for Windows XP expires.

PS3 came out about 7 years after the PS2. 2014 would be the ideal time for PS4 to come out, but something tells me Microsoft will want to release it's new console a year prior to the Playstation again since it worked well for them this generation. I have a feeling that Sony learn from their previous mistake and are not in the same position as they were last console generation to be able to hold of their release; they're probably working on their new machine right now to try and release it at the same time as Microsoft. 2012 sounds to me like the year of the new console.

2013/2014 would be my preference.

late 2013

December 21, 2012. Just in time for the holiday rush.